Mega Man Zero: Redux
by ChaosWarrior01
Summary: The first game in the Mega Man Zero Saga retold with more character development, more lore, and the view of the Neo Arcadians!
1. Episode 0: Awakening

Mega Man Zero: Redux

(Just a note for people who read the story that was up here before. I couldn't work on it due to college, and to pick it up now would be hard, so I'm going to try to start up something new to get going.)

I ran as fast as I could, but my legs were burning, and with every room a small group of the soldiers stopped to try to fight off the wave of Pantheons coming for us.

"_Why?! Why did they have to find us?! We almost had it!"_ My lungs burning so hard, but I couldn't stop, or the entire mission would be pointless.

But I could hear them behind us, the screaming of my men dying, the guns of the Neo Arcadian army…

And the marching…Always the marching…

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The marching… Always the marching…

I could handle the screams, the tears, and the blood, but the marching was always what got to me. Beside me Phantom had his constant distant expression on his face, and he was calmly spinning a kunai in his hands. Fefnir was tapping his foot as he leaned against a wall on the observation platform. Leviathan was the worst though, she was holding her hands and staring at the people as they were forced from their homes.

The whole scene was made otherworldly by a sound shield overhead giving the entire quadrant an eerie blue shade. I couldn't believe it even now that we had to kill or otherwise dispose of these old gen reploids. However, I and my siblings would do our duty.

"We swore to protect these people. We swore to keep the peace."

I sighed, "Levi I know you don't like it, but you need to remember our orders. The word of the Master is final."

She huffed, "I know that Harp, but you know there must be a better way! The Maverick and Elf wars were all about helping humans **and** reploids! Now we are just slaughtering them!"

I felt a headache coming on. Levi was always the one with the biggest heart for the commoners, and she never helped when we had to watch a purge. I looked to Fefnir to help me out, but he just sneered at me and chuckled.

"The good of the many outweigh the good of the few." Phantom stated. He didn't talk as much as the rest of us, but we always paid attention when he did.

Leviathan didn't take kindly to that notion, "So what?! In that case we all should go hungry to help feed those who are running out of energy crystal! Do you want to go hungry? DO YOU?!"

Fef finally started up, "Hey little fairy don't start saying anything about my dinner! I WILL kill you if you touch my food!"

Phantom sighed, "Fighting, feasting, and sleeping are all you do aren't they Fefnir?"

He let out a booming laugh, "No! I also practice!"

I felt my headache getting worse. I suddenly knew it wouldn't be good to stay here. I launched off the platform without warning, spooking the others, and made a beeline for the Wind Temple. I needed to talk to my men.

The entire night would be awash in blue, and I wouldn't get any sleep, but I knew I that there was paperwork to take care of.

Lots and lots of paperwork…

Maybe Aztec Falcon would take over disposal duties this week so I could catch up on the sleep I was about to lose.

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I could feel the vibrations as hundreds of bullets ricocheted around us, and the screams of the poor men behind me were making me want to curl up and cry.

"Don't listen. Just move." Passy didn't even sound nervous. If they caught her they would force her to power some giant machine or some other horrible creation, but she didn't even sound like she even noticed the Pantheons behind us.

We turned the corner to reach a giant wall, completely impassable.

Milan cursed, "Damn it! We were so close! Passy any way past?"

She let out a small pulse of light that made us all feel a little bit better. She closed her eyes as the energy went out and searched the nooks and crannies for every possible way past.

Her eyes opened, "There is something powerful back there, but the only way is through this wall."

I felt my eyes widen. Something powerful… could it be?

Milan, of course, was the one to take action, "Get me a rocket!" He grabbed an offered rocket from another soldier and pointed towards the door, "I'll handle this. Stay back Ciel!"

The blast was horrendous, but it did its job. Just as we were about to go through one of the men who fell back came up from behind.

"To late! Golem! Run!" then just as quickly he was riddled with bullets from behind. Oil and other fluids quickly coated his front, and the spray caught my mouth and eyes. I started to feel my legs shake, and I knew if I didn't move now then I was done.

The room we walked into was large and empty. The only defining feature being the large mass of cables hanging from the ceiling down to…

A reploid hanging from the cables, resting on his knees. The red armor was dull and chipped, and the black under suit looked wrinkled and unkempt. The worst looking part of all though was the hair, which one could tell had once been long and flowing, but now as torn and thin.

It was Zero…

We had found him at last

The three of us, Milan, Passy, and I, all ran to the other end of the room, only the sleeping Zero standing between us.

The Pantheons came in, not even pausing to marvel at the legend. They lined up to fire, but just as I thought we were about to die something stopped the bullets.

It was Milan.

He fell on top of me with my measly strength barley able to stop his fall. He looked at me and cried, "Ciel abort and get out of here!" I could feel the pain in his voice as he spoke.

"No! We can't after coming so far!" I knew I must be crying, but I didn't care. He was a friend dying right in front of me.

"We have no time to argue!" Another round of shots came and hit him in the chest, oil spraying out as my arms gave out from holding him.

They were coming closer, their guns trained on me in case I moved. I knew it was over.

"Ciel."

They were in full view now, gleaming white and blue armor almost factory new. The poor men had hardly bothered them.

"Ciel!"

I felt all the fear hit me. I just wanted to be in my room playing with Alouette.

"CIEL!"

"Huh?" I squeaked. Passy was trying to say something.

"Ciel use my power! You have no choice!"

I gasped. If I was getting her then she wanted me to use her on Zero. That was crazy! He obviously had been there for years, and we didn't even know if he was functional! However, the worst part was that if she failed then I would be here alone.

"Passy if I do that then you'll..."

"I know, but you have to! Everyone is waiting for you at the resistance base!"

I knew she was right, and I knew that this was the only way. Damn them! Damn Neo Arcadia to hell! I hate them for driving me to this!

Passy wordlessly flew to my hands, and I pointed her towards the sleeping reploid.

"Thank you Passy."

She smiled, "No. I should thank you Ciel. Goodbye."

And then she was gone. I screamed her name as she flew, bright as a star, towards the ancient warrior.

And then with a flash of light everything was gone.

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Episode 0: Awakening


	2. Episode 1: Two Meetings

Episode 1: Two Meetings

I could feel my sensors rebooting, the ground suddenly rough against my feet, and the air dusty in my taste facilitators. The last thing to start up was my eyes, and the first thing my eyes saw in this new world made me long for rest.

The first thing I saw was a young human girl laying in the debris of a fallen wall, a look of horror and awe on her face as she looked behind me. I swerved around to see five blue mechanaloids with guns fitted into their arms and a single red orb for a sensor eye.

They looked at me with confusion for a moment before one stepped forward and stated in a monotone voice, "Unidentified reploid please stand down and submit for questioning."

I glanced down at the girl to see her reaction. She looked scared…

"Zero… help me… please…"

Zero…was that my name? I racked my brain, but nothing came up but fuzzy images and sounds that I couldn't make out. I heard the robot repeat itself with the addition that if I didn't stand down they would open fire. I looked down to the girl a third time and saw a pleading look that tore at my heart, and I couldn't help but feel that something was wrong. I wanted to stop and try to figure out where I was and what was going on, but I knew from the now raised barrels of the guns the soldier bots were pointing at us that I had to make a call.

Before I could even process what was happening I pulled a buster from my hip and blasted all five of the mechanaloids in the head. Brownish-red oil spurted out coating the area around them, and I heard the girl squeak in fear.

How did I do that? I didn't even realize that I had a buster at my hip, let alone trying to aim at them.

I decided that that would have to wait. I walked over to the girl, who was still lying in the dirt, oil and mud coated into her hair and face as she shook with fear.

"Zero…?" I could make out a tinge of hope in her voice. Was she not sure who I was?

Questioning would have to wait for later. I tried to speak, but my voice modulator was having trouble starting up after so much inactivity. To make up for I held my hand toward her in a gesture of peace, and she let out a small smile as I helped her up.

She took a shuddering breath as she composed herself, "There should be a transerver on the other end of the lab. We should be able to reroute it to the base if you can get me there."

I somehow understood what a transerver was. Odd. I nodded to show understanding, and then checked my weapon. It seemed to take energy from some form of cell inside the gun, and I couldn't find any place to reload it.

I shrugged and started walking, trusting the human to follow. If I needed another weapon there was plenty of broken pipe around.

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I had to resist the urge to rub my eyes.

The stack of paperwork was worse than I thought, and Herculious Anchortus had almost made my pull my swords when he started bragging about how proud he was of his younger brother. I loved my men, but I DID NOT need to hear about their personal lives tonight.

I could only imagine what the others were doing now. Fefnir was notorious for delegating his paperwork to his assistants, and Phantom didn't even have to deal with it as head of the stealth unit.

In fact I was pretty sure that even Leviathan was somehow able to get out of her paperwork. Probably from flirting with some of the men to do it for her I don't doubt.

The door opened, but I didn't bother to look up. It was probably just Aztec Falcon coming to say goodbye before he headed off to the disposal center. He was probably my favorite subordinate when it came to having to actually **deal** with him. He was always respectful and unassuming, and to be honest he was severely due for a promotion.

"Sir?"

I paused at the voice. It was female.

I didn't have many women in my unit, and the few who served me were usually medics. They never came to see me in person though…

I looked up to greet the visitor. She was a reploid of average height with a head of blue-black hair curved as if squashed by a helmet, and deep blue eyes. She was wearing standard civilian gear, and I couldn't make out a security badge on her.

What was she doing here? The security Pantheons were going to tear her to shreds if she didn't have authorization!

"Who are you and what are you doing here?"

She seemed taken aback by that, "Um forgive me Master Harpuia, but I came to give you an update to the raid on the laboratory currently underway."

She laid down a report and looked at me with anticipation. She seemed to be waiting for my leave to go.

"You didn't answer my question… Who are you?"

Again she seemed nervous, "You don't know me sir? I'm the new secretary. I have been in the front lobby for a month now."

Ah yes. That makes sense. All personnel don't need to carry authorization since the Pantheons were directly connected to the database. Though to be fair she couldn't blame me for not knowing her. I rarely used the lobby, and when I did it usually was when I was giving a council member a tour to let them see the troops.

I smiled, "Forgive me milady." I got up and gave her a bow, nothing else would be proper for a Guardian, "I regrettably overlook the day to day employment most of the time. I am pleased to make your acquaintance miss?"

"Um… Lilith milord"

I gave her an even bigger smile, "Thank you for the update Lilith. Please keep me informed." With that I turned to my desk and resumed my paperwork"

I heard her leave, closing the door behind her, and smiled again. At least I wasn't the only one with paperwork tonight.

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It was relatively quiet on the walk through the ruins. A couple of the mechanaloids the girl called Pantheons wandered around, but a few shots finished them off without much trouble.

The girl was taking this surprisingly well. Earlier when a spider mechanaloid showed up and entangled her in web she managed to keep calm and not scream when it covered her, and later on when a weird nest of spider-bots were pouring out of some nest like contraption she actually managed to step on two or three to help out.

I still couldn't talk, but she seemed okay with the silence. I couldn't help but think that a human shouldn't be taking this environment this well, but then again who am I to talk about knowing anything?

The entire place was broken down, and the recent firefight hadn't done it any favors. Torn walls and ceilings combined with burns from laser rays had turned the entire complex into a collection of twisted metal and scorched support. The girl's pink vest was being torn and ripped more and more by the step, but she didn't complain. Thankfully she was practical enough to have an enviro-suit on beneath the vest, both for herself and for my own wellbeing. I wouldn't exactly be able to guard her if I couldn't look at her now would I?

Finally, after hours of waiting the endless maze of hallways and corridors came to an end.

A dead end.

The girl looked at her map for a second, and then glanced around. Obviously the transerver was supposed to be nearby.

"A dead end. How wonderful." She sarcastically remarked, she turned, "Shall we go back?"

Before I could make any motions towards her I felt a disturbance. My energy levels were going off the charts. The floor was starting to give way.

Before I could think I had dashed forward, the jets in my boots giving me a burst of speed so fast I left afterimages behind, and grabbed her.

We fell, me holding her bridal style, and her screaming as the walls rushed past with screaming wind and darkness worse than the darkest twilight.

Finally it stopped, my body hit the ground feet first, and my frame absorbing the impact. I managed to hold on to the girl, but she seemed only to tighten her grip once we stopped. Her body was racked with sobs and small cries of fear.

I could tell that she was shaken, but my damn voice modulator must still have been out because I couldn't say a word to comfort her. Without any other option I set her down and rubbed her back as she slowly, but surly started to calm down.

Finally, after what seemed like an hour to me, she finally looked up and spoke.

"Thank you." She croaked out, "I would be dead if it wasn't for you."

She got up on shaky legs, and I looked around to see a single hallway, oddly lit up with overhead lights. We started to walk down it, only for a pile of rubble to be waiting around the first corner.

Again my energy sensors rose to high levels, even higher than before! I looked at the wall, and the girl examining it for a way past, and knew that she was in danger.

In a millisecond I could feel my voice modulator start to groan to life, and I knew I had to warn her away from that rubble. I had to keep her safe.

I.

Had.

To.

SPEAK!

"WATCH OUT"

Too late I watched as a giant hand crashed through the pile of stone, leaving with the girl in its grasp. Her scream of terror echoing as she was taken.

I gave chase, but only for a moment as I came upon the owner of said hand. The entire creature was huge, bigger than even ten Pantheons. It had a giant, statue like face, and a body that seemed to be made out of a thick, dull metal I couldn't recall. The entire thing was light brown, and two floating hands were beside the main body. In the grasp of the left was the girl, unconscious in its hand.

I wanted to be scared, but I only could feel anger. This thing was just a big bully, trying to take that little girl somewhere she doesn't want to go.

And even if I didn't know my own name, I knew I hated bullies.

I pulled out my buster, eyed the giant mechanaloid, and charged.

A.N. Sorry for the long wait! I got caught up in college and the Witcher 2 and Final Fantasy XIII! I won't abandon this story though! This series is my absolute favorite Mega Man series, and I will not give it up.

I think I know how I will try and structure the story going forward. I will have the mission be split into either 1 or 2 parts of the actual mission, and then a boss part to allow people to just skip to the boss if they don't care about the actual mission.

Also I will be having one or two parts between missions to give the Resistance Base some growth, and I will **try**, I repeat **TRY** to have a little bit of the Guardians every chapter if I can.

Also for those interested Lilith is inspired by one of the Resistance members! Guess who it is (hint: it is a background character) and you get a kiss from Leviathan! Or Harp. Whichever way you go.

Next time" Zero vs. Golem!


End file.
